FutureBio

What FutureBio does

FutureBio Inc. is a private Berkeley, California-based biotechnology company founded in 2022 that builds a microbial biomanufacturing platform to convert renewable feedstocks into high-performance monomers and biodegradable elastomers for the plastics and chemicals industry. Its technical stack combines gene installing, strain upgrading, and production progressing at the organism level with AI-driven enzyme design, fermentation optimization, and polymer modeling, producing reprocessable and molecular-level recyclable polymer networks as an alternative to conventional plastics. The company markets three product surfaces — Bio-Plastic Circular Sustainability, AI for Sustainability, and Eco-degradable+ biodegradable elastomers — and positions itself as offering cost-competitive, fully circular materials rather than downcyclable bio-plastics.

The company operates as a pre-commercial, B2B engagement model: its website directs interested parties to a contact form for collaboration rather than offering direct product purchase, and its primary stated customer segments are plastic manufacturers and converters and chemical and materials companies seeking renewable-feedstock commodity chemicals, flavors, and fragrances. FutureBio is the first tenant at UC Berkeley's Bakar Labs for Energy and Materials (Bakar Climate Labs Pilot Program, 2625 Durant Ave), giving it preferential access to Berkeley synthetic biology infrastructure, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and JBEI; it has also signed a co-development partnership with MacroCycle (Feb 19, 2025) to integrate its monomers with downstream recycling.

The team is led by founder/CEO Zilong Wang, Ph.D. (NUS, postdoc under Jay Keasling at UC Berkeley) and co-founder/CTO Seokjung Cheong, Ph.D. (15 years metabolic engineering), with scientific advisors Jay Keasling (NAS; founder of Amyris, LS9, Lygos), Victor Holmes (former Head of Biology at Amyris), and Howard Chou (former VP R&D at Cathay Industrial Biotech). Headcount is 1–10, no revenue or funding rounds are disclosed, and there are no named customers, pricing, or patents on file in the available data — limiting any revenue or valuation inference to "pre-revenue, early-stage R&D."

Name

FutureBio

Legal name

FutureBio Inc.

Website

https://futurebio.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FutureBio is a Berkeley-based pre-commercial biotech that uses a microbial platform and AI-driven strain engineering to convert renewable feedstocks into recyclable monomers and biodegradable elastomers, serving plastic manufacturers and chemical/materials companies through B2B collaborations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable bioplastics and bio-based materials

NAICS

Plastics Product Manufacturing (3261), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Industrial Organic Chemicals (2860), Plastics Products, Nec (3089)

akta.pro primary industry

Bio-based & Biodegradable Polymer Resin Manufacturing (PLA, PHA, PBS, starch blends) (IMANAAAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Rubber & Bio-elastomers (bio-based TPEs, natural rubber innovations) (IMANANAG), Enzymes & Industrial Biotechnology Inputs (Enzymes, Microbial Strains, Fermentation Aids) (EUAAAIAL), Compostable & Bio-Based Packaging (PLA/PHA, Starch Blends, Cellulose Films) (IMALAMAB)

Keywords

• Microbial biomanufacturing
• Bio-based plastics
• Synthetic biology
• Biodegradable elastomers
• Strain engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

FutureBio operates a microbial biomanufacturing platform that transforms renewable feedstocks into high-performance monomers, which are polymerized into reprocessable and molecular-level recyclable plastic networks. It pairs this with AI-driven tools for enzyme design, fermentation optimization, and polymer modeling, and produces next-generation biodegradable elastomers engineered from renewable building blocks. Customers are plastic manufacturers, converters, and chemical/materials companies seeking cost-competitive, circular, and biodegradable alternatives to conventional plastics.

Product overview

FutureBio operates as a unified platform focused on sustainable biomanufacturing, consisting of three core product offerings: Bio-Plastic Circular Sustainability (a microbial platform producing reprocessable, molecular-level recyclable plastics from renewable feedstocks), AI for Sustainability (an AI-driven system that accelerates materials development through enzyme design, fermentation optimization, and polymer modeling), and the Ecosystem of Bio-degradable+ (biodegradable elastomers made from renewable, degradable networks). These offerings work together to provide end-to-end sustainable materials solutions—from development and production to circular lifecycle management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bio-Plastic Circular Sustainability

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• MacroCyclecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2025MacroCycle and FutureBio formed a partnership to make plastic recycling cheaper and more sustainable. This collaboration leverages FutureBio's microbial platform technology for creating recyclable materials with MacroCycle's recycling capabilities to advance circular economy solutions for plastics.
• UC Berkeley Bakar LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFutureBio is the first tenant at UC Berkeley's Bakar Labs for Energy and Materials (also called Bakar Climate Labs Pilot Program). This strategic placement provides access to world-class research facilities, faculty expertise, and the broader synthetic biology ecosystem centered at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lygos: Lygos is a synbio company also co-founded by Jay Keasling that develops yeast-based bio-malonic acid and specialty bio-based chemicals, including biodegradable polymers. It directly mirrors FutureBio's strategy of microbial bioproduction of monomer-class chemicals.
• Danimer Scientific: Danimer Scientific produces PHA-based biodegradable plastics (Nodax PHA) for single-use applications and is publicly traded, making it a directly comparable bio-based / biodegradable polymer producer competing for the same downstream converter and brand-owner customers.
• Genomatica: Genomatica develops engineered microbes to produce bio-based chemicals (e.g., bio-BDO, bio-butylene glycol) used as sustainable raw materials. It is a direct peer in the engineered-microbe-to-monomer space that FutureBio operates in.

Broad incumbents

• Amyris: Amyris pioneered yeast-based biomanufacturing of specialty chemicals and ingredients, founded by Jay Keasling (FutureBio's scientific advisor). It is the most direct historical analog for the lab-to-commercial synbio path FutureBio is pursuing, and its former leaders (Holmes) now advise FutureBio.
• Novamont: Novamont is a European leader in bio-based and biodegradable plastics (Mater-Bi starch/PBAT blends). It is a relevant incumbent for biodegradable polymer products that compete with FutureBio's biodegradable elastomer and resin portfolio.
• Cathay Industrial Biotech: Cathay Industrial Biotech is a major bio-based chemicals producer (long-chain dibasic acids, bio-polyamides) where FutureBio strategy advisor Howard Chou was VP R&D. It is the closest large-scale commercial analog for bio-based monomer production.
• NatureWorks: NatureWorks is the world's largest producer of PLA bioplastic resin from renewable feedstocks. It is a leading incumbent in the bio-based polymer market that FutureBio aims to disrupt with molecular-level recyclable alternatives.
• LS9 (now Renewable Energy Group / REG): LS9 was a Keasling-founded synbio company producing petroleum-replacement fuels and chemicals from microbes, later acquired by REG. It shares the same scientific lineage and microbial-to-chemical platform thesis as FutureBio.

Emerging players

• Newlight Technologies: Newlight produces AirCarbon, a PHA bioplastic made from greenhouse gases via microbial fermentation. It is an emerging peer in bio-based / biodegradable polymer production competing in similar end-markets.
• Mango Materials: Mango Materials produces PHA biopolymers from waste biogas using engineered microbes. It is an early-stage direct peer in microbial production of biodegradable polymers, with a similar feedstock-to-polymer pipeline.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/futurebio-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FutureBio